National Parks Roundup: Tourism Hit Feared

Mark Weekley, superintendent at the National Park Service’s Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail, affixes the edges of a sign proclaiming the facility closed due to the federal government shutdown, in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday.

By Jim Carlton, Ana Campoy and Ben Kesling

The federal government shutdown has forced the U.S. Park Service to close the country’s national park system, affecting 401 areas covering 84 million acres. Rangers closed many roads and advised most overnight campers that they have 48 hours to leave. Here are reports from parks around the country, and from the towns and businesses that rely on the tourists they draw, from Wall Street Journal staff reporters.

Trips Cut Short at Yellowstone

Associated Press

A herd of elk graze in the meadows of Yellowstone National Park with the background Mt. Holmes, left, and Mt. Dome, in Wyoming.

At Yellowstone, the country’s first-ever national park, all entrances were closed Tuesday morning and day visitors were directed to find the nearest exit, a park spokesman said.Those staying in the park’s hotels and campsites had 48 hours to find other lodging — and enjoy the grounds unencumbered by crowds.

At Pahaska Tepee Resort, just outside Yellowstone’s east entrance, some guests were cutting their trips short, said manager Angela Coe, who on Tuesday checked out tourists from China, Thailand and France.

“This is just very disappointing,” she said. “We have people from all over the world who want to see Yellowstone and they can’t get in.”

Some of those turned away headed to nearby attractions, temporarily boosting business for some in communities outside park boundaries.

“Nothing can compare with a Yellowstone visit, but we’re trying to accommodate travelers,” said Scott Balyo, executive director at the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce.

Workers at the chamber’s visitor center on Tuesday redirected tourists to scenic drives and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, which by noon had already greeted about 100 to 150 more tourists than on a regular day, according to Bruce Eldredge, the executive director of the museum complex.

Mr. Eldredge said the increased traffic through the center’s exhibits of Western paintings and Indian artifacts—as well as the two souvenir shops selling Native American jewelry and wood carvings—will boost revenue in the short term.

But if the shutdown drags on, local businesses worried they would miss out on the tail end of the fall season, a popular time for senior citizens and international tourists to visit.

“If we do not have the revenue here from visitors who come to Yellowstone, we will not be able to sustain our level of staffing or services,” said Mr. Eldredge. “It’s a major issue when the federal government can’t keep its house in order.”

Ted Blair, who owns several hotels in Cody, said he already received two cancellations from motor coach tours that were scheduled to arrive in coming days with 40 to 50 people each.

“Each motor coach is $6,000 to $7,000,” he said. “That’s a hit.”

String of Cancellations

In Gardiner, Mont., the 38-room Yellowstone River Motel had been “dead full” until this week, with visitors flocking in to see attractions such as the annual elk rut in neighboring Yellowstone National Park, said owner Betty DeWeese. But following the park’s closure, Ms. DeWeese said the motel has had 11 cancellations and early departures. “I have a huge geology group here and they can’t go in and do their tour in the park,” Ms. DeWeese said. “It’s just demoralizing.”

Groveland, Calif., meanwhile, stands to suffer a double whammy: The gateway town to Yosemite National Park lost tourism business during the massive “Rim Fire” that scorched about a quarter-million acres of Sierra Nevada forest nearby, and now it is losing visitors from the shutdown of the park itself.

“This is the end of the season, this is not what we need,” said Chris Loh, co-owner of the Iron Door Saloon, which opened in 1852 during the California Gold Rush. “Really, this is cutting off our lifeline.”

Grand Park Trip Derailed

Associated Press

This June 2011 photo shows a grizzly bear crossing a road in Grand Teton National Park, Wyo., with her three cubs.

The reality of the government shutdown hit Ken Brady hard on Tuesday, derailing his planned month-and-a-half tour of U.S. national parks just as it was getting going.

Mr. Brady, a 67-year-old auto parts inspector from Holland, Mich., said he was only nine days into the trip he started planning a year ago when was forced to look for alternatives to visiting Grand Teton National Park.

“We’re going to make the most of it,” Mr. Brady, who is traveling by motorhome with his wife and two dogs, said while at a visitor’s center run by the chamber of commerce in Cody, Wyo. “We’re going to have Cody have some of our money instead of the federal government.”

Mr. Brady said he was disappointed about having to change his vacation plans, but more worried about the broader effects of the impasse in Congress.

“A lot of different areas are run by our federal government and who knows where it’ll all end up,” he said. “I don’t feel like either party, Democrat or Republican, has our best interest at heart.”

Business Halved at Colorado River

Associated Press

Delicate Arch glows in light from the setting sun as alpenglow lights up the La Sal mountains in the distance in 2010 at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.

In the West, businesses dependent on tourism in national park areas reported large drops in visitors Tuesday and expressed fears they would suffer major economic harm if the shutdown persists.

In Moab, Utah, a retail store operated by Canyon Voyages Adventure Co. saw about half its normal number of shoppers by midday Tuesday, said Denise Oblak, co-owner. Although the company’s rafting trips on the nearby Colorado River are still scheduled, she said the shutdown of Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park – two of the premier tourist destinations in that part of eastern Utah – was prompting “tons and tons of calls from visitors who have scheduled trips with us or aren’t sure if they can go.”

With October representing the last big month of the outfitter’s tourist season, Ms. Oblak said her business may have to start laying off its 25 full-and part-time employees within a week if the parks don’t reopen.

“It is the last month of our revenue-generating period and it’s going to have a negative impact on our bottom line,” she said.

Ripple Effects at Joshua Tree

Associated Press

A meteor streaks through the sky over Joshua trees and rocks at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California’s Mojave Desert in this 30-minute time exposure in 1998.

In Joshua Tree, Calif., the shutdown of nearby Joshua Tree National Park is likely to cause a ripple effect through the city of 7,400.

Artisan ice Cream, for instance, sells its signature Joshua Treets brand to retail stores throughout the town, but those sales are likely to go down, said co-owner Jet Tucker. “Everybody in town depends on the national park,” said Ms. Tucker, adding she faults the intransigence in Congress for Joshua Tree’s new economic threat. “They are doing a disservice to their constituents. I think they are taking out their own petty grievances.”

Shutdown Doesn’t Block View of Mount Rushmore

Associated Press

German workers Gerhard Buchar, right, and Winfried Hagenau, left, along with National Park Service employee Darin Oestman use pressure washers to clean around the face of Thomas Jefferson in july 2005, at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.

The shutdown is already affecting some businesses near Badlands National Park and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

Business is being hurt by guests changing their plans to stay at the 37-room Econo Lodge in Keystone, S.D. which has already had two cancellations because of the shutdown.

“They said they wanted to see Mt. Rushmore and because they can’t see it, they cancelled,” said front desk clerk Shelley Fuhrmann. The inn was scheduled to close for the season on the 15th, but Ms. Fuhrmann said hotel management has talked about the possibility of just closing this week if enough people cancel. “Tomorrow we have five arrivals coming in and that’s it,” she said.

In parks like Badlands, some roads and visitor centers are closed, but some through roads remain open, and if visitors don’t need the expertise of park rangers, they can still drive by Mt. Rushmore and see it.

Down the road at the Dakota Inn in Kadoka, S.D., manager Jerry Stillwell said they don’t see much tourism business after the three big summer months of June, July and August. He’s a bit more stoic about the closure than some of his fellow hoteliers, and not yet worried about the effects of the shutdown. Other than a few buildings being closed, he said, “Badlands is always open to drive through even if the park rangers aren’t there. And you can still see Mt. Rushmore.”

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